All checkpoints lifted; city residents can return home

As more drivers hit the road trying to get home, traffic ground to a halt along eastbound Interstate 10 near Causeway early this morning. Traffic reportedly was flowing more freely by 9 a.m.

Confusion reigned in the storm-battered New Orleans area this morning, as homesick residents began pouring into the region's suburban parishes, forcing Mayor Ray Nagin to lift checkpoints and allow residents back into the city long before the announced return time of 11:59 p.m. tonight.

Danny Bourque / The Times-Picayune

Traffic slowed up along Causeway heading towards New Orleans early Wednesday morning. Traffic was moving more freely by 9 a.m.

By 9 a.m., Nagin had lifted all police checkpoints entering the city, and said officers would not refuse entry to any city residents, despite concerns about massive power outages and other infrastructure problems. "No one will be turned back if you have an identification card that you live in this area," Nagin said in a radio interview "This is not the best time for them to return, but so be it." Most drivers, however, were returning to suburban parishes that announced 6 a.m. reentry times. Those included Jefferson, St. Tammany, St. Bernard, St. John and northern Plaquemines. St. Charles and Lafourche parishes reopened to their residents on Tuesday. Nagin's unexpected decision caused confusion among motorists and law enforcement agencies in both Jefferson and Orleans, who were helping manage reentry traffic. At about 9:45 a.m., Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand, whose deputies were blocking I-10 exits checking IDs, said deputies would continue stopping cars. But within minutes, Norman -- who was consulting with New Orleans City Councilman Arnie Fielkow on the shoulder of I-10 -- pulled the deputies after speaking with New Orleans Police Chief Warren Riley. The exits now are open. Throughout most of the early morning, traffic was choked on I-10 at the parish line, as well as on Veterans Memorial Boulevard at West End Boulevard. Traffic also slowed along the southbound Causeway, where drivers were being waved through toll booths. Cars on the Twin Spans near the Orleans line also backed up substantially until the checkpoint there was removed. Few delays were detected early at a checkpoint at Gen. deGaulle on the West Bank. That checkpoint has also been removed.